New Slains Castle, Scotland: Inspiration For Dracula
For a ruin, New Slains Castle in Scotland is astonishingly complete, the interior a complicated maze of interlinking rooms, corridors, and doorways.
It’s situated on the coast of Cruden Bay.
The original castle has been reconstructed may times since its construction in 1597 by the Earl of Erroll.
The ruin you see today is the inevitable result of the castle’s location and various misfortunes becoming the owners over time.
The owners, the Earls of Errol, were an influential family in the Cruden Bay area for many years and prospered after William Hay (the 18th Earl of Errol) married the daughter of King William IV.
It was altered in 1664 when a corridor was inserted within the courtyard and again in 1836 it was rebuilt and faced with granite.
At one time it had three extensive gardens.
The castle was then sold in 1916 and fell into disrepair in the first quarter of the 20th century, after more than 300 years of occupation by the Errolls.
The castle was bought by Sir John Ellerman of the shipping line. He in turn gave it up in 1925 and its roof was removed to avoid paying taxes.
That led to the inevitable ruin seen today.
The castle is famous for many reasons, partly because it was a place where celebrities were entertained on numerous occasions in the 19th Century.
Most notable being, Bram Stoker and it is believed the castle is the inspiration for the setting of the tale in Count Dracula (1897).
It is likely that the castle provided a visual palette for Bram Stoker when he started writing the book in Cruden Bay.
A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, may be the source for the octagonal room in Dracula.
A quote from Draculas says: ‘The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing the room, opened another door which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort.’
The Crown fans will also recognise Slains Castle - in Season 1, it stood in for Castle Mey when the Queen Mother goes to Scotland.
The defensive works of the castle include use of the North Sea cliffs, an abyss to the west that functions as a deep impassable moat and a ruined rampart that would have been the main entrance on the south.
The ruins include reasonably well preserved elements of three and four story structural elements and a basement course over some of the range, especially at the eastern side.
There are well preserved basement kitchen works with numerous firepits and masonry indented storage spaces.
The internal doorways are primarily of well preserved wooden lintel construction, with numerous examples of mortared sandstone archways and medieval brickwork archways.
The interior of the ground level is a maze of passageways and smaller rooms, reflecting a high state of occupancy in 17th century times.
New Slains Castle is directly linked to the Jacobite cause in Scotland.
In 1705, Louise XIV, King of France, who was at war with England and Scotland, sent secret agent Nathaniel Hooke to foment a Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland.
Hooke landed at New Slains Castle, having been brought from Dunkirk by the fourteen-gun French navy frigate, Audacious.
His efforts came to nothing after they were thwarted by James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, head of the Country Party in the Scottish Parliament.
Hooke returned to New Slains Castle in 1707, the year of the formation of the United Kingdom.
Using the castle as his base, he toured Scotland gathering military intelligence to establish the feasibility of a combined French / Jacobite invasion of Scotland.
He returned to France, where his report was read to Louise XIV at the Palace of Versailles. The French King authorised the invasion.
Today, New Slains Castle is now a roofless shell, with most of the outer and inner walls standing to full height.
In 2004, it was reported that the Slains Partnership was preparing plans for the restoration of the building and conversion into 35 holiday apartments.
In August 2007 the scheme was granted outline planning permission by Aberdeenshire Council, but the plans were put on hold in 2009 due to the Great Recessions.
Visitors can explore the ruins and surrounding areas - but as it’s located close to cliff edges, proceed with extra caution.
Keep to the surrounding paths, stay away from cliff edges and do not climb on any of the castle structure.
Someone who recently visited the ruins said: “After parking in a small lot just off the highway it is a short flat hike to the ruin of Slain’s Castle.
”You can enter the ruin and explore all around it. We climbed up the stone spiral staircase in the three story tower.
”We also went down one story into a dark room that had many indentations in the walls. Views from inside out to the North Sea are really cool as are the views from every angle outside.”
Another person added: "“Huge beautiful castle ruins! It was an easy 20 minute walk from the bus station.
”There is nobody working there you just come and go as you please. It’s right on the edge of the cliffs so use common sense while exploring. Definitely worth the trip to Peterhead!”
If you’d like to visit, the address is: A975, Cruden Bay, Peterhead AB42 0NE.
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